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PSEUDOGENES. "The human genome is also home to a large number of pseudogenes. Estimates of the total number range from 12,600 to 19,700." http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004351 View in LinkedIn

EXAPTATION. "Notably, the processes of subfunctionalization and neofunctionalization may not be mutually exclusive. Indeed, the degenerative processes leading to subfunctionalization may act upon silencer elements and thereby promote neofunctionalization." https://lnkd.in/eHCDVhZ View in LinkedIn

GENE FATES AFTER DUPLICATION. "Following duplication, each gene within a paralogous pair may evolve in several ways. For example, it may retain the same set of functions as the ancestral copy, retain only a subset of the original set of functions (subfunctionalization), obtain a new function (neofunctionalization), or degrade into a nonfunctional gene (nonfunctionalization)." https://lnkd.in/eHCDVhZ View in LinkedIn

WHAT ABOUT VESTIGIAL GENETICS, hangovers from early gene exaptations and promiscuous gene sharing? How do these affect evolutionary potential? View in LinkedIn

EXAPTATION OF NON-CODING DNA. "We are left then with the evolutionary potential of excess eukaryotic DNA and its ability to be co-opted into function, which might well impart a different tempo and mode to eukaryotic evolution." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/10278.full View in LinkedIn

EFFICIENCY IN SIMPLICITY. "In fact, because of their more rapid generation times and larger population sizes, we might expect prokaryotes to have more exquisitely refined regulatory systems, more selection per base pair as it were—a sort of historical complexity, alluded to above in our cyanobacteria vs. marsupial comparison." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/10278.full View in LinkedIn

MATE SELECTION. "Recent studies in Drosophila, for instance, demonstrate that the symbionts (not alleles of nuclear genes) provide important pheromonal cues necessary for mating preference."​ https://lnkd.in/ddVyNR5 View in LinkedIn

LIGHT ORGAN TRIGGER. "The newborn of the squid Euprymna scolopes lacks a light organ, which is developed in cooperation between the squid and the luminescent bacteria (Vibrio fisheri) absorbed by its ventral epithelium. Without the bacteria, the organ does not develop."​ https://lnkd.in/ddVyNR5 View in LinkedIn

HORIZONTAL TRANSFER. "There is also allelic variation in the human microbiome. The genes of Bacteroides plebeius differ in different human populations. The Japanese strain contains at least two genes (horizontally transferred from a marine relative) that enable the bacteria to metabolize complex sugars, such as those found in seaweeds."​ https://lnkd.in/ddVyNR5 View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend that touched on the concept of the individual and mosaicism. Division of labour is an old concept, but its threads can be seen at all levels in living things, from societies to genomes. Indeed, overlaid by the concept of outsourcing, vast biological efficiencies and expanded functionality can be achieved by the combination. View in LinkedIn